Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Jan 28, 2026

Jamie Dimon says Libra will never happen, and he wishes he could take JPMorgan private

Jamie Dimon says Libra will never happen, and he wishes he could take JPMorgan private

Jamie Dimon doesn't think Libra, Facebook's embattled cryptocurrency project, will ever get off the ground.

"It was a neat idea that will never happen," the JPMorgan Chase CEO said on Friday at an event organized by the Institute of International Finance, according to a video posted by CNBC.

Libra has been criticized by politicians, raised privacy concerns and lost support from Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and other founding members.

Dimon didn't explain why he thinks Libra will fail, though he did question the novelty of it. "We already have stable coins. They're not the first to do that," Dimon said.

JPMorgan (JPM) launched its own digital coin earlier this year, becoming the first major American bank to do so.
"It's backed by a dollar, so it's really stable," Dimon said.

Unlike JPM Coin, Libra would be backed by a fixed basket of reserve currencies.

Neither Facebook nor the Libra Association responded to requests for comments.

But David Marcus, who leads the Libra effort at Faceboo, (FB) recently expressed confidence in the project despite the loss of early supporters.

"I would caution against reading the fate of Libra into this update," Marcus said last week on Twitter, after several companies said they would exit the association.

"Of course, it's not great news in the short term, but in a way it's liberating. Change of this magnitude is hard. You know you're on to something when so much pressure builds up," he said.

Dimon has a history of making outlandish comments about cryptocurrencies. He once called bitcoin a "fraud" and predicted that governments would "crush it." He even threatened to fire any of his bankers if they traded it. The JPMorgan boss later expressed regret for the comments and acknowledged bitcoin is "real."


Dimon wants JPMorgan to go private

Meanwhile, Dimon on Friday ran through a list of complaints about the difficulty of being a public company today. He cited onerous reporting requirements, "farce" shareholder meetings and the threat of potentially "crippling" litigation.
"We are driving companies to the private market," Dimon said. "I would go private if I could. Being a public company has real negative downsides to it."

Going private is not really an option for JPMorgan. It's America's largest and most important bank. And JPMorgan is valued at nearly $400 billion, making it far too rich for any would-be buyer.

Still, to Dimon's point, the number of publicly-listed American companies is shrinking, down by about about 50% in the last 20 years, according to Vanguard.

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, who shared a stage with Dimon, argued that there are some "joys" to being a public company. He cited the ability of companies to sell shares, and the credibility of being vetted by institutions like the SEC.
But Gorman agreed that there are disadvantages, including the need to devote time and resources towards reporting quarterly results. He suggested one way to ease the burden would be to only release revenue every three quarters, with a full earnings release coming twice a year.

"The funny thing about quarters is they come around with alarming frequency," Gorman joked.

The Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO also pointed to the burden of holding shareholder meetings, often in front of scant audiences.
"We have more security guys in our shareholder meetings than shareholders," Gorman said. "It's kind of insane. You're sitting there talking to three people."


'Probably' no recession

One thing shareholders are worried about these days is how long the economic expansion, already the longest in American history, will last.

Dimon acknowledged that businesses are slowing investments because of fears about the trade war. However, he said American households are still strong - and consumer spending remains the biggest part of the economy.

That's why Dimon said the slowing business investment "probably" won't cause the United States to tumble into recession.
And if there is a recession, he feels confident that tough regulation imposed after the 2008 financial crisis will prevent another meltdown.

"Lehman simply wouldn't happen," Dimon said, pointing to strong capital requirements and the legal authority granted to the FDIC to take over a bank that is collapsing as Lehman Brothers did.

He also dismissed the concern voiced by former FDIC chief Sheila Bair and others that regulators have unshackled America's banks by dismantling the post-crisis guardrails.

"These are teeny, weenie little adjustments at the margin that make virtually no difference," Dimon said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Prince Harry Breaks Down in London Court, Says UK Tabloids Have Made Meghan Markle’s Life ‘Absolute Misery’
Malin + Goetz UK Business Enters Administration, All Stores Close
EU and UK Reject Trump’s Greenland-Linked Tariff Threats and Pledge Unified Response
UK Deepfake Crackdown Puts Intense Pressure on Musk’s Grok AI After Surge in Non-Consensual Explicit Images
Prince Harry Becomes Emotional in London Court, Invokes Memory of Princess Diana in Testimony Against UK Tabloids
UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly but Interest Rate Cuts Still Seen as Likely
Starmer Steps Back from Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Amid Strained US–UK Relations
Prince Harry’s Lawyer Tells UK Court Daily Mail Was Complicit in Unlawful Privacy Invasions
UK Government Approves China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London Amid Debate Over Security and Diplomacy
Trump Cites UK’s Chagos Islands Sovereignty Shift as Justification for Pursuing Greenland Acquisition
UK Government Weighs Australia-Style Social Media Ban for Under-Sixteens Amid Rising Concern Over Online Harm
Trump Aides Say U.S. Has Discussed Offering Asylum to British Jews Amid Growing Antisemitism Concerns
UK Seeks Diplomatic De-escalation with Trump Over Greenland Tariff Threat
Prince Harry Returns to London as High Court Trial Begins Over Alleged Illegal Tabloid Snooping
High-Speed Train Collision in Southern Spain Kills at Least Twenty-One and Injures Scores
Meghan Markle May Return to the U.K. This Summer as Security Review Advances
Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat Sparks EU Response and Risks Deep Transatlantic Rift
Prince Harry’s High Court Battle With Daily Mail Publisher Begins in London
Trump’s Tariff Escalation Presents Complex Challenges for the UK Economy
UK Prime Minister Starmer Rebukes Trump’s Greenland Tariff Strategy as Transatlantic Tensions Rise
Prince Harry’s Last Press Case in UK Court Signals Potential Turning Point in Media and Royal Relations
OpenAI to Begin Advertising in ChatGPT in Strategic Shift to New Revenue Model
GDP Growth Remains the Most Telling Barometer of Britain’s Economic Health
Prince William and Kate Middleton Stay Away as Prince Harry Visits London Amid Lingering Rift
Britain Braces for Colder Weather and Snow Risk as Temperatures Set to Plunge
Mass Protests Erupt as UK Nears Decision on China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London
Prince Harry to Return to UK to Testify in High-Profile Media Trial Against Associated Newspapers
Keir Starmer Rejects Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat as ‘Completely Wrong’
Trump to hit Europe with 10% tariffs until Greenland deal is agreed
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
×